This site about the origins of Belfast street names began with a question driving along Tate’s Avenue which connects the Lisburn and Boucher Roads where does Tate's Avenue get its name? This started research not only in that street name but many others throughout Belfast.
Street names of any city often tell a story which can easily be forgotten; this is certainly the case with Belfast. Some of the origins of street names are easy to work out, others less so. One of the hopes of this project is to bring together as many as possible of the origins of the names which could so easily be lost. A key part of the website is the search facility site.
This project welcomes comments, questions, additions and corrections.
Street names are an interesting way to learn the local history of a city as well as wider historical happenings. People, historical events including wars, churches, large houses all feature in some form or other in the names. Some families - the Royal family and the Chichester family later known as the Donegalls play a prominent role in Belfast street names. Much of the development of the city can be found by studying the names which have been given over the years since the time the city was first founded.
It is the hope of the trustees of Belfast Street Names that this website will be helpful to people who want to research the development of the city of Belfast. We also hope it may contribute to their understanding of where they or indeed relatives grew up.
It should be noted despite the violence that has marked the city of Belfast over the generations we have chosen not to highlight the impact of violence — other resources are available for those who wish to study where the Troubles impacted the people and places of Belfast.